New website enables businesses to act on customer complaints

Jamie Snape, founder of the Harrogate-based Feedback Scheme, demonstrates his new system on laptop and mobile. (S)

Published:15:26Wednesday 14 January 2015

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A brand-new scheme launched this week by a Harrogate company aims to provide UK consumers with a single system for making complaints to companies across the UK.

Customers who are unhappy with the goods or services provided by a participating company can simply enter its name and location into the Feedback Scheme website, giving their feedback in their own words, before sending it direct to a local manager within the business.

They can then monitor when their feedback has been read, and receive a response while keeping their own email address confidential. The service is free to use.

Feedback Scheme founder Jamie Snape said: “Until now every company was forced to set up its own feedback website which they print hopefully on the bottom of their till receipts or invoices. If the customer does decide to visit the site they tend to be greeted by long questionnaires which often just go to a head-office administrator, and that’s not really what the consumer wants. A customer wants to be able to quickly and easily communicate this to the local manager within the business, and have them action change on the ground.

“Now with Feedback Scheme it’s possible: one familiar website at www.feedbackscheme.com to communicate complaints to lots of companies right across the UK.”

Mr Snape, who is a three-time award-winner at the Yorkshire Digital Internet Awards, hopes that Feedback Scheme will be used by the majority of restaurants, hotels, car dealerships and shops within 24 months of launch, making it much easier for UK consumers by being universal.

The cost of membership for businesses has been set to a nominal monthly fee of £5.99 plus VAT per location, billed annually, to help the scheme become the UK standard for sending feedback.

Mr Snape said the Feedback Scheme would enable customers to help rather than damage a business, by sending their experiences privately to a manager who can then in turn respond to the customer.

“I fully expect Feedback Scheme membership will quickly become something people just expect to see from any UK business of quality, as put simply, it will demonstrate they actually care about what their customers think, and will want to quickly rectify any problems locally,” he said.